I was really interested to read this chapter because I really enjoy doing guided reading groups in the classroom, but am always striving to make the best use of my students' time, teach them the most appropriate reading strategies, and provide them with meaningful activities they can perform independently when not working with me. This chapter addressed alot of my concerns and already had me thinking about changes I need to make.
One of the first things Routman challenges teachers to do is to create flexible, mixed-ability groupings so students don't get "stuck" in a group all year. While this is encouraged mainly for older students, as the needs of primary students as developing readers are usually better met with ability groupings, it did encourage me to re-assess my groupings more frequently than I do. In first grade, reading ability and comprehension levels change constantly throughout the year that groups should change to allow for readers to best improve. Routman also mentions giving choice to students in what they read. While in the past I carefully selected a text for each group, this year I have given some of my groups a choice in what they'd like to read when our group next meets. They have liked this option and aside from empowering them, it allows them to have more meaningful conversations about the texts they read.
Routman shared a sample lesson she did with a group of average readers in the second grade. Students used notebooks to jot their responses to the text, and this was a quick way for her to assess who comprehended the story (and thus who became the "experts" to help others, or participated in an extension activity) and who didn't. She would then give extra assistance to those struggling. I love the idea of notebook jottings and think I'd like to implement this myself, rather than relying constantly on a teacher-created response sheet where students spend more time constructing writing responses than reading the text (another thing she warns against).
One of the aspects I am conflicted with the most in my guided reading is providing meaningful activities for students at centers while I am working with my groups. I was a little surprised to read that Routman discourages spending lots of time securing center activities, but the more I read, the more it made sense. Instead, it is suggested that more independent reading time be incorporated into center time, as well as project-based work. We often do some type of integrated project based work at centers, and even though we hit independent reading heavily in the morning, I am brainstorming ways to add it to our center rotation (pair reading, reading responses, book projects, completion of guided reading stories, etc). I typically have 3 centers going during guided reading groups: Listening (lots of research and projects to choose from here), Writing, and Spelling/Word Work. I struggle most with the usefulness of the spelling center. I want to make sure that the students are engaged in a meaningful activity, and not just moving magnetic letters or tiles around for a few minutes and then changing activities. I have discovered some activities that are beginning to work best for our class for this center that include working in pairs on Spelling City word games; spelling, alphabetizing and reading weekly words off and discussing meaning to my assistant (checking accountability, fluency and comprehension); and a new activity I'd like to implement, spelling word tic-tac-toe (buddy accountability). I hope to continue to add to this center to make sure it best meets my students' needs.
Hi Christina,
ReplyDeleteI am glad that this chapter was helpful to you in creating effective guided reading groups and ensuring that the other students are engaged in meaningful reading and writing while they are not with you.